Some of the Takumar M42-lenses I owned/own. Works great on my Canon EOS, of course :) And they are also very pretty.

Maybe a reader could get the impression I like all lenses? ;) Well, I try to see the good and bad in them all, what to use them for, what properties do they have? But some are easier to love then others…

Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8 on Pentax Spotmatic Camera

The purchase
I bought this lens Asahi Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8 from my friend Daniel together with another lens. I guess this was about 800 SEK (approximately 76€, $98, £66 at the moment of writing) of the price, a bargain because I have later seen it on ebay for about $200. This is in good condition, only problem was a little stiff aperture ring but it loosened up with some exercise. Normal wear on hood and mount. A couple of other friends here in Örebro also bought lenses from Daniel at the same time and he shipped them all to me, so we had a little package-opener party.
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Took some iceshots on my wlk the other day :)

Icebubbles made with Asahi Opt.Co. Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8

Are you like me – rather the one behind the camera the in front of it? However, sooner or later you will need a picture of yourself, right? For your company, CV, website, book – whatever.

Well, I needed a couple of images for different occasions. So late tonight I took out the cameragear and gave it a try.

• A chair
• Two constructionlights (500W)
• Tripod
• Camera with m42-lens Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8
• A piece of string
• Some Photoshopping

I tied the string to the tripod and stretched it to the chair. Sitting on the chair I focused on the tripod. Without touching the focus I put the camera back on the tripod. With the string I could tell where the focus in the image is.

I put selftimer on and ran back to the chair. Took the string to my eye (so it would be in focus). The lights were like I wanted them after several attempts. It’s a bit trial and error. I don’t have good flash or studiolights so I have to use whats available, but I think it turned out ok:

Selfportrait with Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8

Just a nice little portrait of one favorite lens, the Asahi Opt.Co. Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8. As usual the Spotmatic acts cameramodel for the Asahi-lenses (since I need the DSLR to create the image ;) ).

Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm f1.8 on Pentax Spotmatic